If you are a sex trafficking victim, there’s an effort underway in Texas to help you apply for clemency

Governor created a special process, and now a nonprofit initiative is emerging to help people take advantage of it.

Dallas resident Robbie Hamilton, who is a survivor of sex trafficking, pauses for a photograph at The Beauty Shop at The El Dorado in Richardson, Texas, on Dec. 13, 2018. Hamilton was 15 years old when she first walked into a strip club and did not get sober until she was 41. She has been working as a hairdresser at The El Dorado for 15 years.(Carly Geraci / Staff Photographer)

As we wrote at the time, “With this pardon, Gov. Abbott has done more than wash clean the criminal record of one person,” he has “signaled to every victim of sex trafficking that absolution is possible.” It was, in no small way, a victory for all survivors, as well as for all those in our state, including Hamilton, who’ve tirelessly advocated for healing, justice and understanding.

In a series of editorials, this newspaper had encouraged the governor to use the power of clemency to put the fight against sex trafficking on a sound moral foundation. That moral foundation, we argued, begins when our criminal justice system stops arresting and punishing the victims of sex trafficking — predominately young women and girls, some as young as 13 — and instead brings the individuals and criminal networks who have enslaved them to justice.

As Texans we are proud to say that local law enforcement and increasingly our entire criminal justice system have made great strides in that direction. Together with the many nonprofits in our state that offer support, advocacy and understanding for survivors of sex trafficking, Gov. Abbott and our state legislators are leading the way with a more humane approach to the hidden victims of sex-trafficking and forging a path that, hopefully, other states will follow.

On Feb. 20, Abbott took another important step toward justice for trafficking victims when he, in coordination with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP), established a customized clemency application “specifically for survivors of human trafficking or domestic violence.” We had previously argued that such a process should be created and were encouraged see that under the new protocol, Texas inmates and those seeking clemency can cite their experiences as victims of sex trafficking, coercion and violence when requesting relief from the BPP.

The goal, said Abbott, is to offer a “true path to redemption and restoration” for the tens of thousands of Texans who are survivors of sex trafficking or domestic abuse and are still serving time or are haunted by a criminal record that limits their opportunities for employment, housing, and a new start in life.

Hamilton, now 58 and an advocate and mentor for victims of trafficking and those suffering from addiction, described the state’s new path toward clemency as “monumental.” Thanks to decades of advocacy and education by nonprofits like Dallas-based New Friends New Life, she explained, “we better understand the impact of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking on the victims of these heinous crimes, and so can better address and care for the victims.”

Yet even as we celebrate this crucial path toward clemency, we recognize that the great majority of survivors do not have access to the legal advice and assistance they will almost certainly need to successfully complete the clemency application. Even with the state’s new public-awareness campaign to educate survivors on how to submit applications to the BPP for possible referral to the governor, there remains a great need for pro bono legal advice and assistance.

Elizabeth Henneke, executive director of Lone Star Justice Alliance, an Austin-based nonprofit that advocates on behalf of youths and survivors of sex trafficking in the justice system, told us recently that her organization has been inundated with hundreds if not thousands of calls from interested clemency applicants looking for assistance. Sadly, that’s not surprising, given that, according to figures cited by the Texas attorney general’s office, there are some 234,000 victims of labor trafficking in our state at any given time, and, shockingly, as many as 79,000 victims of youth and minor sex trafficking.

The demand for assistance with clemency applications is so great, in fact, that Henneke and the Lone Star Justice Alliance are launching a new statewide initiative dedicated to offering pro bono legal aid for any survivor of trafficking interested in the clemency application process. “It’s called the Survivors’ Project,” said Henneke, “and brings together over 30 partners dedicated to meeting the overwhelming demand for clemency application assistance. Our partners range from the SAFE Alliance in Austin, to the University of Texas Domestic Violence Clinic, to POETIC in Dallas, there’s a whole host of organizations involved.”

The goal of the Survivors’ Project is straightforward: provide free legal advice and assistance to any survivor interested in applying for clemency. “By the end of this month,” Henneke explained, “there will be up on our Lone Star Justice Alliance website an intake form where people can register for pro bono assistance as well as workshops on how to complete the clemency application.” Once the intake forms are reviewed, she said, “people will be contacted telling them whether or not they qualify for pro bono legal assistance that’s being provided by big law firms and other pro bono attorneys.” Henneke stressed that the Survivors’ Project is still in the process of recruiting additional pro bono attorneys, and “if anyone is interested in donating pro bono hours our organization will be providing training and form materials, and then will refer cases directly to pro bono lawyers.”

To its credit, the Texas Bar Foundation, the largest charitably funded bar foundation in the nation, was an early supporter of the Survivors’ Project, along with several other bar groups and charitable foundations. With that support, the project should be up and running soon to meet the demand the governor has created with the clemency application. “Thanks to the governor’s leadership,” Henneke said, “we now have an opportunity to bring justice and grace to survivors of trafficking and domestic violence who have been involved in crime.”

We agree. And would encourage anyone involved in the legal profession, whether they be an attorney, paralegal, law professor or student, to get involved. As Henneke pointed out, “Texas is leading on this. This is really groundbreaking to recognize the complexities of victimization and survivorship. And it’s the community’s obligation to prepare these applications and support these petitions so that the governor can make informed decisions to both protect the public and to bring opportunity for redemption to our communities.”

Dallas Morning News Editorial. Dallas Morning News editorials are written by the paper's Editorial Board and serve as the voice and view of the paper. The board considers a broad range of topics and is overseen by the Editor of Editorials.